Dazed and Confused

Everything I Learned About Leadership Appears Wrong

I have more than a few books about leadership on my shelf. The focus of these books varies from church leadership, organizational leadership, leadership character, leadership in times of crisis, and so on. Besides the books, I’ve read articles, listened to podcasts, and even attended a few conference presentations on leadership.

Over the years, there are some of the lessons I have learned about leadership that include:

• Lead by example. People are more inclined to cooperate with someone willing to do first what he or she wants others to do.

• Lead by listening to others. Seeking the collaborative input of others, including those who can offer critical feedback, improves good ideas and can help avoid mistakes.

• Lead with moral character. There’s a problem when the integrity of a leader is so compromised that he or she can no longer be trusted and has lost the confidence of others.

• Lead with moral conviction. A leader must have the courage to self-differentiate by doing what is right rather than just what is expedient or faddish.

• Lead by empowering others. Give praise to whom praise is due and help people serve based on their strengths because their success is also the success of a leader.

• Lead with accountability. A leader takes responsibility, accepting accountability for mistakes rather than blaming others.

Of course, as a follower of Jesus, my philosophy of leadership begins with Jesus. Consider the following passage of scripture from Luke 22:24-27…

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”¹

Such a passage affirms the idea of servant-leadership comes from. Leadership is not about wielding authority and power over others but about serving.

Or so I thought.

It seems that I was wrong. It appears that all the books and articles I have read and all the leadership seminars were wrong.

Apparently, good leadership doesn’t require any moral character or conviction. A “strong man” rather than a servant, who builds his or her platform based on fear, is the mark of a good leader. Eliminating any dissenting voices, those who would dare to criticize an idea of the leader or attempt to hold the leader accountable is okay. A good leader should insult, mock, and scapegoat others, even if it means being dishonest, to advance their agenda. When problems arise, as they always do, a good leader will always blame others rather than accept any responsibility but always take credit for everything that goes well. The same leader, full of narcissism, should always brag about him or herself by over-inflating their accomplishments, all the while ignoring their failures. All of the above is also a great way to cover up a fragile ego that would give off the appearance of weakness.

Yes, this is what appears to make for good leadership here in the United States. Of course, that is utter nonsense, and anyone who has ever served in any position of leadership knows how much nonsense this is. But this is what happens when utilitarianism, where the end justifies the means, is embraced. Virtue no longer matters. And the saddest part of it all is that many Christians embraced such utilitarianism over virtue, at least when it comes to public life. The retort is that public life is not the church, as though they can still embody a Christian witness while embracing a public philosophy that pans Jesus as a weak leader.

All of this is at a time when Christianity in the United States is in steep decline and many Christians are anxious regarding how to stop this decline. I know this because there are volumes of books, some of which are also on my bookshelf, addressing this very matter. According to some voices, we just need more laws that favor Judeo-Christian ideals. But no matter how necessary some laws are, laws don’t change hearts. So it’s past due that Christians begin to look inward for the answers to how we might recapture a robust Christian witness and this, in my opinion, includes examining the kind of leadership we value and support.

There is something grossly wrong when Christians value and support the ideals of Caesar rather than Christ. No matter what we proclaim and what we confess as a matter of faith on Sundays, what we value and support says more about who we are than any proclamation or confession. Until our values and what we support match what we proclaim and confess, our witness for the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God rings hollow.

Lord, give us eyes and ears to see and hear!

1. Taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.